The Future of AI and Humanity in iHUMAN

Have you thought about what is next for humans? What about Artificial Intelligence (AI)? Are we being watched? Is there privacy? Where does all of oir information go and what is it used for? What does AI mean for humanity and how far are people willing to go to make it happen?

These and other important questions are answered in the new documentary iHUMAN, which is now screening in the Hot Docs Film Festival Doc Shop online screening room. The film, which made its successful sold out World Premiere at IDFA 2019, was set to make its North American premiere this week at the 2020 Hot Docs Film Festival.

The film is directed by award-winning director Tonje Hessen Schei. She opens up one of the most important conversations of our times leaving us wondering what is next to come for humanity.

What I liked about this film is the bravery in answering some really tough questions and exposing truths that governments and corporations want hidden in the dark. According to the film’s credits, Facebook and Google refused to comment and speak about AI in the film. It is absolutely scary to know that there is a lot at stake when powerful corporations and governments lead the defining experiments of AI.

iHUMAN features interviews with thought-leaders and innovators, such as Jürgen Schmidhuber; chief scientist at OpenAI Ilya Sutskever, Google whistleblower Jack Poulson, computational psychologist Michal Kosinski, techno-sociologist Zeynep Tufekci, journalist Lee Fang and pioneer Hao Li.

These bright minds discuss some of the scariest and yet true philosophies about the use of AI in our everyday lives and where it is heading. It reveals how powerful corporations, like Facebook and Google, collect and use our data in ways we can’t even imagine; in fact the idea of “privacy” is questionable in the film. The argument for some is that we need AI to solve poverty, hunger, climate change, diseases and on the contrary, others fear that AI might be the biggest threat to humanity.

What I found interesting in the film is how Kosinki explores the use of data faces to tell sexual orientation and political views, something he says might be used more in the future. In addition, the non-stop camera surveillance in China and collection of personal information by the Chinese government, is something I found quite disturbing.

What I found exciting in the film, on the bright side, is building an AI human robot that can speak, think and look like a human. I am not sure what use that has for humanity as a whole but I found it to be quite exciting and interesting. I just hope it doesn’t take my job away as a journalist! But if AI could really solve some of our biggest issues then maybe there is something good in it as well.

The idea of non-existing “privacy,” being watched and an uncertain future is what shook me to the core. The film exposes truths we all need to know in this socio-political climate. It investigates the consequences of power of the multi-billion dollar AI industry. Some sources in the film even claim it to be a discovery scarier than the nuclear bomb.

I also love the use of cinematography in the film. The picturesque and breathtaking Swiss mountains were amazing to look at. The picturesque views made the film more exciting and visual.

iHUMAN is indeed a political thriller about AI, power and social control. The film shows how the most powerful and far-reaching technology of our time is changing our lives, society and future. The film was definitely an eye-opening experience for me and I am sure for a lot of you as well.